What is it with this 'Bobber' craze?

They look awesome and are infinitely more interesting than any sort of stock factory bike.

Done well, it's an artform.

Chop Cult can answer many of your questions: http://www.chopcult.com/default.php

Camaroes?

Hell, I don't know.

(FYI, Here begins a rant that has nothing to do with the person I am quoting)

Who didn't?

ADD a Ferrari like Magnum P.I.

AND a Kick ass big, Chevy truck like the Fall Guy

AND a badass helicopter like Airwolf

AND a sweet motorcycle like in Tron

AND a kick ass, big boobed girlfriend that would tell our moms to, "fuck off!" as we rode off into the distance...

THEN...some of us grew up and decided we really liked RIDING motorcycles and instead of taking cheap motorcycles from CL and turning them into unrideable piles of crap. To add to his tragedy, about 90% of the trailer park residents that start one of these projects, completely destroying the motorcycle in the process, decided they no longer have the knowledge, skills or ambition to finish it....kind of like the rest of their lives.

The proof is in the showing. At every, tiny little show around here I see 1 or 2 builds that range from 1/4 ass to 1/2 ass, and in response I see multiple CL posts a month of redneck fools looking to sell their train wrecked catastrophe.

SO, if you have a nice bobber build, I'd love nothing more than to take a look. I will appreciate the art you have created, and thank you for contribution to not only the arts in general, but our sport in particular.

HOWEVER, for the 99% of the rest of the "bobber builders" out there...fuck you, fuck you, fuck you...for completely destroying what was once a perfectly good motorcycle.

You should be ashamed of yourself.

+1000000!

and another motorcycle guru checks in. Thanks for straightening us out!


I bet you just wanted to say "Why don't you get a real motorcycle, just like mine"

i have seen some pretty cool rides around here due to the cult of what is known as the Sturgis Rally. The part i don't quite understand is why would a person go out of there way to make a moto more dangerous.

Example: Not having a cover on the secondary drive belt of your V Twin something 'er other. I see pant legs within nanometers of being sucked into a 2 1/2" belt spinning at a ridiculous rate all the time. Or even same bike with the dude wearing shorts with that belt nanometers from his leg.

Confuses the begeezus out of me.:huh

If I'm ever in Michigan I'll be sure to have you take a look at my bike. I haven't been able to sleep at night knowing I don't have your approval yet to ride my bike.

I bet you're a ton of fun to be around.

You should post a picture so that you can get a preliminary opinion

You obviously care or you wouldn't have responded

New thread please, you've got me subscribed to it already! :eek1

Cameri?

Interesting choice of words. I guess you figure that them darn murder cycles start out dangerous. It must take a brave man to tame them.

Back in the "day" a bobber was the equivelant of today's cafe racer or street tracker. Like todays styling exercises they started out as a street bike modified for racing.

And a lot of people like that "performance" look. Of course carried to the extreme, all of these bobbers, cafe, and trackers lose sight of their original panache.

I always liked more or less standard bikes, "if it can't be okay standard, it is probably not okay at all". Choppers seem to me an exercise in excess and seem tasteless, where as the bobbers can have clean lines that I appreciate.

BUT, as said before, to each his/her own. If you are happy with a bike that weighs 2000 lbs and is so uncomfortable that it will only bring you to the bar around the corner, fine, if you have a word traveler to go to the same bar, fine. You take of your office tie and like to dress up like a rough biker dude in the weekend, fine as well. To me that seems more like role playing but we all enjoy hobbies in a different way.

The use of protective gear depends on the laws chosen by the government in a country and the attitudes of the voters. Politics is a balancing act and when the lobbying and interests of the health insurance companies become stronger than the voice of those who want to be "free" to ride motorcycle without any protective gear, the insurance companies will win. In Europe they even dictated certain exercises for the license.

Thanks for digging up this old thread.

I got to reread my rant, and it still makes my blood boil.

Most bobbers that I have seem turn a nice bike in to scrap. The sooner this faze is over the more useable bike that will be for sale not turn a half build bike with a cut up frame

The saddest thing for me is the death of tolerance. We used to be bigger people. Now we seem diminished, finding fault and fearing the differences between us instead of celebrating them. It's just sad

I've never seen a motorcycle I didn't want to at least try to ride...

I'm not comfortable on many of them... but they're all fun. Period.

I look forward to it. As I said in my rant. I take no issue with bobbers. I take issue with worthless rednecks who hack a bike apart and then don't have the....whatever...to finish it.